This is the debut album from Red, White & Blues who you may not have heard of yet…I say yet as you will soon, believe me.

The band features Myke Gray from Skin/ Jagged Edge on guitar, Matti Alfonzetti from Jagged Edge on bass and vocals and Che Leon Beresford on drums. The trio play hard rocking blues, which is some of the best I have heard and have classic songs that most bands would die for. I first caught the guys live supporting The Quireboys and was totally blown away by their performance that night and this album contains the same power and passion displayed during that set.

The opening song ‘ Stand Up For Rock N Roll’ sets out the bands stall nicely. This is a heavy rock anthem of the first degree with fantastic playing from Myke Gray, his guitar work throughout the album is amazing from blistering solos to slow blues, all are taken in his stride. Another highlight throughout the disc is the vocal delivery of Alfonzetti. His voice is perfectly suited to this style of rock with a powerful, bluesy delivery not unlike Paul Rodgers in parts which is high praise in my book.

The album highlights are too numerous to mention with all 14 tracks being of the highest quality, but if pushed I would recommend ‘ Set My Sights On You’, ‘ Let It Shine’ and the excellent ballad ‘ A Little Too Late’ as a good starting point.

As a mark of how good the band are, as well as supporting The Quireboys and Whitesnake recently they are also playing along with Chickenfoot on their forthcoming UK dates in January. At the moment the album appears to only be available through the bands own website or at gigs, but it is well worth searching it out,.

If you like classic rock and well written songs with hooks big enough for shark fishing, then this is definitely for you. The only issue I have with the album is it was too late for my ‘best of 2011’ list !

David Wilson